Drew, in disguise

This morning Drew came in to the lab with me for a while so that Jana could go to an appointment. We used it as an opportunity for Drew to wear his costume. He was a hit all over the building and there were plenty of smiles and noises from Drew to go around!
I got Drew's green socks in this picture. Drew makes being green look easy, doesn't he?
Drew LOVES standing up right now and his favorite place to stand is next to our couch. He has started moving around a bit while standing next to the couch, but he mainly likes to stand in one place and chatter away. For some reason standing alone is highly entertaining. Often when we get home from work our family heads straight to the couch and Drew stands up while Jana and I sit on either side of him and crack him up. We have a great time together!
Last week at daycare Drew was so mobile that they found his cute overall outfit was slowing him down. Therefore, he made the switch to his striped footie pajamas for increased flexibility and mobility!
We were so excited about seeing Drew move when we got home that we didn't even pause to take off his coat!
Drew is getting bigger, but he still looks so small standing next to our couch! He continues to get taller and leggier. He's already starting to look more like a toddler and less like a baby! Drew loves to play with his dog (while standing, of course).
Last night Drew "discovered" the plant in our living room that has been there since he was born. He crawled over to it, grabbed the rim of the pot, pulled himself up to kneeling (pictured below) and then proceeded to . . . . put his hand in the dirt, bounce up and down, grab the leaves, break off pieces of leaf, and basically abuse and enjoy the plant. Needless to say, the plant has exited the living room!

It's a little dark, but here is video of Drew during his final encounter with the plant. He clams up when I pull out the camera because before this he was talking away (to the plant :)

While we prepared Drew to wear his costume, we noted how great he looked with his lizard knee socks on. I don't think that this look will be one that we will encourage Drew to embrace in the future!

autumnal fun

We had a busy weekend with lots of activities! On Friday night, with Drew sound asleep at Gabby's place (she babysat Drew for us), we visited a corn maze near Lansing. We went through a corn maze last year for the first time, and enjoyed it so much that we decided to go again this year. The maze is very well done and while I haven't been to other mazes myself, I have to give the maze a plug; it is the "Best maze" and their website is: http://www.bestmaze.com

Drew has a cold right now, so he had a runny nose and a bit of a cough this weekend. However, he didn't let it dampen his spirits and we still saw lots of smiles and giggles from him!
On Saturday we did another activity that we tried for the first time last year: apple picking! Jana and I went apple picking last year in the fall while Jana was pregnant, and we looked forward to going again this year with our baby. Now we have Drew and so we took him out to the orchard for his first fruit-picking experience.Drew stayed warm in his hooded fleece jacket and he rode in the Baby Bjorn while we made our way through the orchard. Can you see how one of his nostrils is clogged from his cold? Poor guy!We had fun on our apple picking adventure with our friends Jon and Laura and their family. This was their family's first time apple picking and we were very excited about sharing the experience with them.Despite how late it is in the fall, there were still lots of apples on the trees for picking. Some of them were close to the ground and could be grabbed like this one that Jana is picking, while others were higher up and required the picker that I'm holding in an earlier picture. We all picked many apples off the trees and sampled them while picking!
This was Drew's autumnal outfit for apple picking: denim overalls and a flannel shirt. Doesn't he look ready to go out and help me prepare the back forty for winter? :)
We've been working on getting Drew to crawl toward a person and not just an object (like a toy). I thought he was making his way toward me in the kitchen on Sunday morning, but then he detoured to the doorstop. He loves hitting the doorstop and hearing it's noise. Sproing!!

I also captured some brief video of his encounter with the doorstop. At the end of the video he decided to move on to the register cover (causing the video to stop and me to direct him elsewhere).

On Sunday we had lunch with Jana's family to celebrate my birthday. I got to have my favorite meal: steak and mashed potatoes! Somehow I did not get pictures of Grandma Lynn and Grandpa John playing with Drew, but I did get pictures of Aunt Christina enjoying her time with Drew.
Drew did a really good job all afternoon of providing us with plenty of smiles, despite not feeling one hundred percent.
After lunch with Jana's family we continued on to Great-Grandma and Grandpa Vryhof's place. Todd got me a birthday present and included Drew's new favorite toy with the gift: a box!
Drew spent A LOT of time on the floor with the box. Given his excitement, Jana and I now know what to get Drew for Christmas this year: boxes from the presents we get for each other! Just kidding! :)
Here are Uncle Todd and Drew. I think Drew is trying to show Uncle Todd his two teeth on his lower gums.
As usual, Grandma Sue was all over Drew as soon as she arrived! It's hard to get a turn with Drew when she's around.
Great-grandpa Vryhof did manage to get Drew for some time in the chair. We had to make sure that everyone got a turn with Drew!

Is walking in the near future?

Last night Jana and I had a great time playing with Drew. One of his new games is peek-a-boo, and usually it makes him laugh out loud. We played for a little while last night, but we were only able to coax a smile out of him at that point. Here is a video sample:

We placed Drew next to the couch and he stood next to the couch for a while, and then even took a few steps along the couch! He is getting so much better at standing and controlling his legs. We are keeping a careful eye on him because he'll be walking before we know it! Drew was quite entertained by us as he stood along the couch and on this video we really got him giggling.

After all the excitement of standing, Drew needed a break and dropped down to his knees. We were really impressed because he "stood up" on his knees for quite a while with just a hand on the couch.

Drew even occasionally removed his hands from the couch (Jana's not touching him) and "stood" unassisted on his knees for several seconds before reaching back to the couch for support. It was so much fun to watch Drew move and chat!

Drew is a great helper

One morning last week before leaving in the morning, I really wanted to get a picture of Drew in his fleece jacket and mittens. Unfortunately, Drew did not want to keep his mittens on and he was wiggling so much that I couldn't get a very good picture. Sometimes it is hard to get him to stay still! Drew continues to eat away; he loves a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. I actually included this picture though to highlight his hair, which is sticking up quite nicely. Drew' hair is growing quickly (for him) and when he gets out of the bath it sticks straight up.
Last Saturday Drew "helped" me with some work in the garage. While I was working he sat in his stroller and watched my every move. We built some shelves, moved some things around, and cleaned up a little. He was completely mesmerized by everything I was doing. He's going to be a big help some day!
Drew's outfit for helping me included his fleece vest, his yellow hoodie, and mittens to keep his hands warm. We thought he might like the texture of the grass, and then realized that he couldn't feel the grass through all those layers!
Drew "walked" around the yard on my feet, but continually got distracted by the cords on my hooded sweatshirt. They were hard to grab though without the use of an opposable thumb (his mittens have no fingers on them).
Jana is strategically holding Drew before his bath. Drew is getting so much longer in his limbs! He continues to look less like a baby and more like a toddler.
Drew loves playing in the bath with his toys, including his rubber duck!

Here is a video of Drew playing in the bathtub. He usually talks a lot in the bathtub, but he wouldn't do it for the camera. You can at least get a sense of how good he is at splashing!

This past weekend Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill visited us in Lansing to celebrate my birthday (Oct. 20) and Grandpa Bill's birthday (Oct. 17). Within minutes of arriving, Drew woke up from his nap and Grandma Sue swooped in to grab him. Isn't Drew cute in dinosaur pajamas? His cheeks are still pink from his nap!
I don't know if seeing Drew in his hat will ever get old. Every time we put it on him, it makes us chuckle! :)

Here is one last video of Drew for this post. He makes quite the range of noises and this one involves sticking out his tongue. He also just learned how to "cluck," which I will have to get on video soon! Can you tell that he's getting tired at the end of this short video?

a tooth!

I have been trying to figure out how to get this on the blog, and now I have a picture to go with it . . . Drew has a tooth! It broke through his gums about a week or two ago, and if you reach your finger in his mouth you can clearly feel it. I'd try to get a picture of it, but I feel a little weird holding his mouth open and going in close with the camera (there are limits to the pictures we'll take :) The tooth is on the bottom front of this mouth. With the new tooth in there, it probably feels a little weird to Drew, who has never had teeth before. Therefore, he loves to move his tongue in and out to feel his tooth. That's what he's doing in this picture below that I took on Sunday when Drew and I came to the lab. Last year for my birthday, while Jana was still pregnant, she bought a play workbench for Drew to get me even more excited about the arrival of our baby boy. It worked! I couldn't wait to work on projects with my son. Drew is still a little young for his workbench, but I couldn't wait any longer, so I put it together this past week. It is a nice workbench with several "nails" that can be hammered in (Drew is demonstrating his hammer usage below) and some bolts that can either be screwed in with a screwdriver or tightened with a crescent wrench. Most of the motions for the workbench are still beyond Drew, but he loves to stand next to his workbench and he found that he can pull the "nails" out with his mouth! The nails are the blue and red things that he is reaching for in the picture below.
Last night when I got home from work we had some family play time with Drew. He stood next to his workbench and played with it for forty-five minutes!
I'm still trying to get Drew to work on his grip (he's holding the hammer a little too close to the head), but I love seeing him holding and banging with the hammer.

I also took some video of Drew playing with his workbench. This is my first attempt at playing with him and just aiming the camera at the two of us while we're playing. It gives you an idea of how much Drew was chatting, but I think the next time I'll let Jana play with him while I man the camera! :)